Ameana the worn-out whore

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by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Ameana puella defututa

Language: Latin

Our translations: ENG SPA

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[Ameana]¹ puella defututa
Tota milia me decem poposcit,
Ista turpiculo puella naso,
Decoctoris amica Formiani.
Propinqui, quibus est puella curae,
Amicos medicosque conuocate:
Non est sana puella, nec rogare
Qualis sit [solet aes imaginosum]².

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• C. Orff

About the headline (FAQ)

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¹ Orff: "Ammiana"
² Orff: "solide est imaginosa"

Text Authorship:

by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 41 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Carl Orff (1895 - 1982), "[X]. Ammiana, puella defututa", 1940-43, published 1943, from cantata Catulli Carmina, no. 11 [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ITA Italian (Italiano) (Mario Rapisardi) , no title, first published 1889
SPA Spanish (Español) (Saúl Botero Restrepo) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Saúl Botero Restrepo

This text was added to the website: 2015-10-07
Line count: 8
Word count: 37

Ameana the worn‑out whore

Language: English after the Latin

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[Ameana]¹ the worn-out whore
Demanded of me all of ten thousand, 
Herself a girl with a rather ugly nose, 
A friend of the bankrupt Formian.
You relatives who care for the girl,
Call together friends and doctors:
The girl is not well, and [she is not accustomed 
To ask the image-bearing bronze how she looks]².

Available sung text translations: ← What is this?

• C. Orff

About the headline (FAQ)

View text without footnotes

Translations of titles:
"[X]. Ammiana, puella defututa" = "[X]. Ammiana the worn-out whore"

¹ Orff: "Ammiana"
² Orff: "no need to ask/ how she is: she's thoroughly delusional"
Note for line 2: An extravagant number of sesterces, equivalent to about 11 years' salary for a Roman legionary of the period.
Note for line 4: The reference is to a certain Mamurra from the city of Formiae, whom Catullus elsewhere charges with squandering his inheritance and considerable income.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:

a text in Latin by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 41
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-08-07
Line count: 8
Word count: 58